Annal:2005 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
From AwardAnnals
Results of the National Book Award in the year 2005. For a ranked list of books, try an honor roll:
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
- 2005 NBA–Youth winner
- Score: 10.55
This summer the Penderwick sisters have a wonderful surprise: a holiday on the grounds of a beautiful estate called Arundel. Soon they are busy discovering the summertime magic of Arundel’s sprawling gardens, treasure-filled attic, tame rabbits, and the cook who makes the best gingerbread in Massachusetts. But the best discovery of all is Jeffrey Tifton, son of Arundel’s owner, who quickly proves to be the perfect companion for their adventures.
The icy-hearted Mrs. Tifton is not as pleased with the Penderwicks as Jeffrey is, though, and warns the new friends…
- 2005 NBA–Youth finalist
- Score: 6.55
Once, Jane was the big sister, teaching Lily to play make believe and protecting her from thunderstorms. But then Lily grew up. She started making friends and dating boys, while Jane wanted to go on playing make believe forever. For Jane, the line between fantasy and reality had always blurred, whereas Lily lived for a future bright with expectation and change. Inevitably, the sisters found a gulf widening between them- Lily reveling in her newfound love, while Jane could only watch, frustrated, from the sidelines. How had her little sister managed to eclipse…
Inexcusable: A Novel
- 2005 NBA–Youth finalist
- Score: 6.55
I am a good guy.
Keir Sarafian may not know much, but he knows himself. And the one thing he knows about himself is that he is a good guy. A guy who’s a devoted son and brother, a loyal friend, and a reliable teammate. And maybe most important of all, a guy who understands that when a girl says no, she means it. But that is not what Gigi Boudakian, childhood friend and Keir’s lifelong love, says he is. What Gigi says he is seems impossible to Keir…. It is something inexcusable—the worst thing he can imagine, the very opposite of everything he wants to…
Autobiography of My Dead Brother
Walter Dean Myers, Christopher Myers
- 2005 NBA–Youth finalist
- Score: 6.55
The thing was that me and Rise were blood brothers, but sometimes I really didn’t know him….
And so Jesse fills his sketchbook with drawings and portraits of his blood brother, Rise, and his comic strip, Spodi Roti and Wise, as he makes sense of the complexities of friendship, loyalty, and loss in a neighborhood where drive-bys, vicious gangs, and abusive cops are everyday realities.
Printz Award winner Walter Dean Myers delivers an unforgettable novel about life’s hardest lessons, illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Christopher Myers.
- 2005 Golden Kite-fiction honor
- 2005 NBA–Youth finalist
- Score: 12.55
Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger has attended 247 funerals. But that’s not surprising, considering that her family runs the town funeral home. And even though Great-uncle Edisto keeled over with a heart attack and Great-great-aunt Florentine dropped dead—just like that—six months later, Comfort knows how to deal with loss, or so she thinks. She’s more concerned with avoiding her crazy cousin Peach and trying to figure out why her best friend, Declaration, suddenly won’t talk to her. Life is full of surprises. And the biggest one of all is learning what it takes to…
